The Associated Negro Press, a national and international news agency, was established in Chicago in 1919 by Claude Barnett. A graduate of Tuskegee Institute, Barnett was deeply influenced by the self-help/service-to-the-race philosophy of Tuskegee's founder, Booker T. Washington, and served on the governing boards of such organizations as Supreme Liberty Life Insurance, the American Negro Exposition in Chicago of 1940, and Tuskegee.

With correspondents and stringers in all major centers of black population, ANP provided its member papers—the vast majority of black
newspapers
—with a twice-weekly packet of general and feature news that gave
African American
newspapers a critical, comprehensive coverage of personalities, events, and institutions relevant to the lives of black Americans.

After 1945, ANP established a significant presence in Africa. By the late 1950s some 75 African papers subscribed to the service's weekly news packets in French as well as English.

Beset by climbing debts and Barnett's failing health, ANP ceased operation in midsummer 1964. His Associated Negro Press provided a vital service to one of black America's most important institutions during an era when African American newspapers realized record circulations, profits, and influence.